Freak Fetish
by Sunshining
Summary: The Weasley twins have planted a dangerous idea in Oliver Wood's head, and Katie Bell must learn to handle the blood boiling and heart palpitating consequences of misguided affections. Her own included. KxO
1. Innuendo

They heard Lee's horrified shout and then a clatter from what _had_ been their train compartment. The door rattled as someone slammed against it.

"You ready for this season?" Oliver asked Katie casually .

Both Gryffindors were waiting out a particularly fierce Lee Jordan-Angelina Johnson brawl.

"More or less," she replied.

Another shout and thump resonated.

"Some lover's quarrel," Katie noted good humouredly.

"Mhm," Oliver said. "How was your summer?"

She looked up from her feet to his liquid brown eyes.

_Is this a trap?_ she wondered.

"Great. I don't really have much to say about it, it was just great. Family went to Romania most of the summer. The last few weeks have been pretty quiet but you know... relaxing. My mum got me a new broom and robes that actually fit."

"Robes certainly do fit well," he commented, a sly smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "Very, very well."

She frowned instantly and barely suppressed a shudder of disgust.

_Knew it..._

"There you go again!" she shouted at him. "This is what always happens! A conversation starts well and civilized and thanks to you it always turns into a round of sexual innuendo!"

"What?" he cried. "You said so yourself. You finally have 'robes that actually fit'. I was just reaffirming that!"

"You can get your own compartment!" she spat, shoving past him and bursting into the compartment.

Angelina and Lee were kissing almost as heatedly as they had been fighting and hardly found disruption in a fuming Katie Bell.

"Sod off!" she hissed.

They broke contact and quickly scurried out.

Katie sat brusquely, seething.

_Damn Wood, can't be civilized for once in his damn life… You'd think as a seventh year he'd have himself under control…Or at least do a better job of acting like he does..._

The door suddenly burst open and she was ready to hex the intruder but instead found herself smiling.

"Alicia!"

Her fellow schoolmate returned the smile.

"Hi! Wood came raging into the compartment I had with Fred and George, muttering about a prudish egotist, so I figured he'd said something horrid to you again. Decided to check in, leave the boys alone to… do whatever they do."

Katie snorted.

_I think I have a sneaking suspicion as to what they do when they're alone…_

"Well thanks, Licia. How've you been?"

Alicia sat herself across from Katie.

"Fantastic, but I have to admit, I am raring for school again; got the Quidditch itch again."

"Me too," Katie replied enthusiastically. "Though, I can't say I'm too excited for the yearlong sexual harassment."

Alicia sighed impatiently. "Kates, you should be used to it by now. I mean… It's happened ever since you came back third year with a chest. However obsessed the guys are with Quidditch, I don't know if it matches their passion for certain aspects of the female anatomy."

Katie laughed. "Shush. The change wasn't that noticeable and I wasn't the only one! Lots of girls came back looking different."

"Well, not too many for the better," Alicia replied. "And none that hunched over for the first three months to hide it."

"Some of us aren't comfortable with the idea of showing off like that."

"Stop being so righteous, for Merlin's sake. So a few males have shown an interest, so what?"

"So... So it's disgusting," Katie said sourly.

"Wood's not so bad," Alicia insisted with a smile. "He can be charming when he wants to be."

Katie's face twisted in disdain. "Doubtful! Listen to the things he says! He has no filter."

"He's perfectly nice," Alicia replied. "Just… not around you."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Licia."

Alicia rolled her eyes while flicking her wand arbitrarily.

"Don't get pissy at me because Wood wants to strip you naked, tie you up and do bad things to you."

Alicia hardly had time to react to the huge book that Katie subsequently hurled at her.

"HEY!" Alicia yelled. "What the bloody was that for?"

"You know why," Katie replied with a scowl. "That book's yours by the way. Thanks for loaning it to me."

"Sure."

Alicia tucked the book into her bag and propped her feet up on the empty space on the opposing seat between Katie and the window.

"Think we have a chance at the Cup this year?" Alicia asked, staring out the passing countryside.

"Maybe," Katie mumbled. "If we can all work together. And if Fred and George stop debilitating each other for laughs."

The door suddenly slid open.

"What's that?" two voices chimed in simultaneously, their redheads popping into the doorway.

"Eavesdropping, as usual, eh?" Katie asked with a wry smile.

"Hello to you too, Kates," Fred said with a goofy grin. "You look stunning in your post-rage flush."

She laughed. "You heard, eh?"

"Course." George interjected. "Who didn't? Wood's particularly steamed 'bout this one."

"So he's pleased with the trauma he's caused to one of his Chasers?" Alicia asked with a dramatic flair of her hand.

"You know Wood, he cares, he does," George replied with equally exaggerated sentimentality.

"Exactly," Fred agreed. "Sure, he won't let us off the field until we're bleeding, concussed and ready to splatter our brains into the stands but he means well. In his own crazy, homicidal way."

The girls sniffed at the distastefully graphic description. The twins smiled on.

"Well I'd appreciate if he'd stop directing his 'care' my way," Katie finally said.

The others laughed.


	2. Stunted

"See you at dinner; we've got to uh… unpack some things," George and Fred said as the girls started to enter the school.

Katie and Alicia exchanged looks.

"Just remember that we have families that love us," Alicia warned. "And they certainly wouldn't want their children's limbs blown off due to absolute idiocy."

They grinned. "'Course not. What do you take us for?"

"Well…" Alicia continued, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Something like absolute idiots."

They frowned before hurrying off towards the dormitory.

Katie smiled. "Licia, you really shouldn't encourage them. Really."

"Hey, it keeps them occupied. And as long as they're occupied with wreaking havoc, they'll keep their hands off of us girls in the Hogwarts population."

"True."

They sat down in the already packed Great Hall and began to settle in again to the swing of the school year.

"Hi Katie, how've you been?"

She turned around and her smile broadened into a grin. "Potter! I'm just right, how about you? Summer was good?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Great. Listen, have you seen Wood?"

Katie frowned immediately. "Oh no. No, no, no. Don't start the conversation with Quidditch. For once in your life, be a friend instead of a teammate."

"Sorry, usually you don't mind. Sorry, I just… won't mention anything."

She heaved a sigh, ducking casually as a drumstick when whizzing past her head. "It's nothing, go ahead. I'm just a little flustered from the train ride. Bumpy, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Hey, I heard you—"

"Hello Potter," interrupted Oliver's voice, his accent grating Katie's eardrum. "How—"

"Wood!" Katie snapped, turning and grabbing him by the cuff. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of a conversation, you prat?"

Both Harry and Oliver blanched at her sudden ferocity. Their section of the long table stilled.

She let his robe go roughly, her eyes locked with his. The noise started up again. The three of them did not.

"Whoa… Sorry, Bell. Didn't know you were so interested in talking to Potter here," Oliver replied, his composure regained though the color was slow to return to his face.

She glowered before turning back to Harry, smiling tightly.

"So, what were you saying, Harry?"

"Uhh…" he stammered.

Lee Jordan, Alicia and the newly arrived twins stared over in curiosity at the sudden drama.

Harry pushed his glasses up further onto the bridge of his nose. "I-I don't remember."

"Oh," she replied quietly, skewering a potato wedge onto her fork. "All right then."

"Could I get word with Potter, _now_?" Oliver asked impatiently.

She rolled her eyes. "He's all yours."

He looked as if about to say something but instead jumped into a conversation with Harry.

"You all right, Kates?" Alicia whispered to her friend.

"Yeah, you tore Wood a new one," Fred remarked. "Shut him right up."

"What's the occasion?" George asked.

Katie shrugged. "I have no idea where that came from. I guess I'm just… tired."

"Or you're absolutely daft," Fred noted, tearing into a roll with gusto as if starved.

"Katie?"

She turned her head slowly and saw Angelina looking concernedly at her, blatantly ignoring Lee's piercing glare.

"Are you okay? You're bright red right now…"

"Can everyone tell when we've had a row?" Katie asked tiredly, pushing her peas around her plate.

"Well… Yeah," everyone suddenly said in unison.

They laughed.

"You guys _are_ pretty obvious when it comes to arguments," Lee noted.

"Not that anyone asked you," Angelina snapped.

"I need permission to speak, then?" he growled at her.

"You need to be part of the conversation at least," she replied coolly.

They glowered at one another.

"A real love fest, here, isn't it?" George asked Katie, pulling her into a three-way hug with Angelina. "Feel that tension? That's true love."

Fred laughed encouragingly. "Or it's the calm before Wood and Lee are viciously slaughtered. Rest their souls because their bodies will certainly never be found in one piece."

"So much for keeping their hands busy, eh?" Katie whispered to Alicia who giggled.

The tension melted as they chattered away. Evening hours passed quickly as everyone reacquainted with one another, sharing stories of their summers and occasionally stealing bites from one another's plates.

The dinner came to a close as more and more students began to crowd towards their respective dormitories, satiated and sleepy.

Katie yawned, adding a word or two of comment to the consistently strong conversation between the twins, Alicia and Angelina (and Lee when he dared speak).

She muttered the password to the Fat Lady and entered the Common Room with the other students. As the others carried on their conversation full force around the fire, Katie settled into an arm chair. Her eyes drifted open and close before she allowed sleep to take hold.

* * *

"Katie. Katie!" shouted a voice into her ear.

She jumped up, her heart racing and saw five pairs of eyes on her.

"We've better get to sleep if we're going to get ourselves killed tomorrow at practice," Fred said.

"Not to mention by the homework from classes," Angelina added.

"What the hell do you think I was doing?" Katie cried indignantly. "You could've left me here till morning."

"What fun would that have been? We'll let you regain consciousness, " Alicia said with a laugh. "See you up in a bit."

The rest of the group had already disappeared to the dormitories by the time Katie stretched her arms, ready for her warm, welcoming bed.

She yawned again and began her climb up the stairs.

"Bell," a voice with the unmistakable Scottish brogue called.

"Don't want to hear it, Wood," she called back. "You don't want to be the person who gets in the way of me and my bed."

He skipped the steps two by two to catch up, his features shadowed by the weak moonlight.

"Listen, Bell," he ordered. "It'll only be a second."

_A second less sleep,_ she thought, feeling more irritable as the seconds indeed passed.

"I'm sorry about what I said on the train earlier."

She could hardly contain a gasp of shock and muttered an articulate "Huh?"

"I didn't know you'd get your knickers in such a twist. And as tomorrow is our first practice, I didn't want our Chaser to die of wounded pride. God forbid your good virtue is sullied by harmless sexual insinuation."

She found herself laughing. "Wood. Is that your idea of an apology?"

He said nothing.

"The only reason I'm going to accept that terrible excuse for an apology is because I know how emotionally stunted you are from all of those Bludgers to the head."

"Fine," he snapped. "You'll never hear another apology from me again."

"I hope that's a promise."

Katie could almost hear his blood boiling before he wordlessly stormed back down the stairs, presumably to the boys' dormitory, in a huff.

She slipped into the dormitory and quietly under her bed's covers, sighed.

_It's going to be a __**long**__ year__._

* * *

Katie looked out the windows as she and Alicia headed to an early dinner from their first day of classes and saw an ominous cloudy sky.

"See, it wasn't overcast until now. It's a sign. We should not have practice today," she said to Alicia as they descended the final staircase to the Great Hall.

"Yeah. Hopefully one of us will get struck by lightning during practice today," Alicia replied. "Hopefully it'll be me."

Katie snorted at her friend's death wish. "Like that ever stopped a practice."

"Well… Keep your fingers crossed."

The Hall had a considerable amount of students dining. Katie and Alicia spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron, along with George and Fred already at the Gryffindor table, among many.

"Evening ladies," Fred said in spirits higher than usual. "I hope you're ready for an exceptional practice, Bell."

"What are you two up to?" Katie asked, chewing slowly.

He continued to grin eerily. "Oh, you'll know, Bell. You'll know."

She narrowed her eyes. "I will, will I?"

"Be sure of it," said George.

Katie swallowed nervously. "Better not be another one of your ridiculous concoctions."

They smiled at one another before looking back to Katie.

"One of our better ones, don't worry."

"What?" she asked.

"You'll see."

Katie bit her lip.

_Oh boy…_

"You look terrible," George told Oliver who walked to their end of the table.

"Thanks, mate," he replied, sitting down across from Katie and besides Fred.

Katie looked at her plate as to avoid eye contact. She knew he was still hopping mad.

_No use in aggravating it_, she thought.

"So…" Alicia started tentatively, taking an uneasy bite of pasty. "What's practice going to be like today, Wood?"

"Hell," he said plainly.

The team took a collective sharp breath. "Hell" was probably a euphemism for something much worse.

Katie knew that he was grimacing and that practice was going to be what it was because of her.

_So much for not aggravating anything_.


	3. Anger Overfloweth

"You can't say he doesn't keep promises," Angelina shouted as she flew by Katie as the howling wind whipped the hard raindrops against them. "'Hell' is a very accurate description of this."

"I just wish the weather wouldn't indulge his maniacal fantasy of control," Katie hollered back, her teeth gnashing in irritation brought on by over an hour of freezing rain and wind. "Potter isn't even here this practice and Wood still wants a full run through of this play. Damn near impossible!"

"I know. He is a—"

"Shut your traps over there and focus!" Oliver roared from afar.

"You're right, Katie. Wood _is_ a bastard!" Angelina finished loudly with a wicked grin, obviously hoping to set her friend in a trap.

Katie's retort was cut short when the rain began to pelt down harder, making vision almost impossible and stinging her skin as it cascaded down.

"Catch!" Alicia called, roughly chucking the Quaffle towards Katie.

She fumbled to keep her balance with the violent winds and rain tossing her broom. Katie eventually stabilized and managed to grappled for the Quaffle which was vibrantly bright against the nearly blackened sky.

As she flew through the tumultuous weather, alternating passes of the Quaffle from Angelina to Alicia, she saw two flashes of red hair from the corner of her eye and then the distinctive Weasley cackle.

"What's going on with them?" Katie asked loudly. "They've been doing that fly-by cackle this entire time and it's starting to get unbearable."

"No idea!" Alicia yelled, launching the Quaffle back into Katie's open hands before flying quickly ahead to Angelina.

Katie slowed her flying abruptly when she noticed the previously normal Quaffle in her hand was scrolling words as she transferred it from under one arm to the other. She soon halted her broom completely midfield, midair, mid-monsoon.

She squinted to read the letters forming on the dimpled face of the Quaffle and was suddenly oblivious to anything but the task at hand.

**I. **the Quaffle read.

She frowned. Even before Wood's painfully repetitious and grueling new game play had been brought to fruition, her patience had worn through ages ago thanks to a particularly bad day of classes.

_'I'? What the hell does that mean?_

She didn't think she had the patience for a communicative leather ball.

"Hey Kate!" Alicia's voice shouted from the other end of the field, "Whatcha doing just sitting there? Get your arse moving! We want to get the hell out of here!"

"What does this mean?" Katie yelled back, motionless. "I'm not moving an inch until you tell me what "I" is!"

"I can't hear you! What'd you say? You want to know who you are?" Angelina called, through the sudden ominous crash of thunder.

Lightning cracked against the sky.

Katie looked down quickly at the Quaffle again.

**I..**

Katie abandoned the planned maneuver the team had carefully overviewed at the beginning of practice and flew quickly towards Fred, who was clubbing a Bludger suspiciously close to Wood's post at the Quidditch hoops.

"Fred!" Katie yelled as loudly as she could, indicating to the Quaffle, "I do not have the ruddy patience for this damn ball! Just tell me what it says!"

"Oh come on, it's fun," Fred said with a laugh as he flew alongside her. "Keep looking!"

Unspeakably frustrated and clueless, she took another look at the Quaffle.

**I...** it read again.

Disregarding Alicia and Angelina's yells and refusing to fly back into the planned formation, Katie began flying aimlessly.

"Bell! Bell, what the hell are you doing?" she heard Oliver yelled as she zipped past him.

She was beginning to feel almost nauseous at the sudden jerking turns and sudden straight-aways she was taking to get the Quaffle to reveal more information.

**I...**

"KATIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Angelina screamed, "PASS THE DAMN THING SO WE CAN GET INSIDE!"

Eyes narrowed to near slits as she traversed the rain quickly; Katie whipped past her protesting fellow Chasers and stayed on her wayward path.

"BELL!" Oliver snarl as she passed him again, "Do you want to stay out here all night? LET'S GO!"

**I...** it still said with nothing new other than marks of punctuation.

She halted in front of the Quidditch hoops, realizing the twins probably had gotten her to shake around the Quaffle with no real intentions or purpose other than to infuriate herself and the rest of the team.

"Throw it!" Oliver yelled.

The Quaffle still blinked teasingly, gallingly: **I...**

Her last ounce of patience gone, Katie let loose.

"FRED! GEORGE!" she screeched through the violent storm, "I HAVE HAD IT! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU TWO FOR THIS STUPID GAME WHEN THIS PRACTICE IS OVER, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"Bell!" Oliver hollered again irritatingly.

"As for you," Katie raved, directing her fury at Oliver this time, "I've had it with your ridiculous and stupid plays! THEY'RE SUICIDE! You guard those three hoops the whole time while the rest of us are beaten to a pulp! You want me to throw this Quaffle, Wood? Fine! But you'd damn well be able to catch it!"

Seething, she rocketed the ball towards one of the exposed rings.

The ball thudded with a solid, painful thud against his chest but he had managed to catch it with only a mild wince.

"HA!" he scoffed. "I've seen first years who throw better than-"

"Say that again!" she challenged, flying towards him quickly and nearly knocking him off of his broom. "I dare you!"

Angelina and Alicia were immediately at her side and wrenched her at a safe distance from him.

"Katie..." Alicia murmured, leading her friend away from a potential tussle, "Practice is over. We can leave. Don't start anything right now. You can change into dry clothes. You can take a shower. We can all get the hell out of here; now let's go before he changes his min-"

"Bell..." Oliver called, this time with less patronization and more of what sounded like bewilderment, "Bell..."

"What?" she snapped, snapping her head toward him. "What do you want to say to me now?"

"Ohh!" Fred and George suddenly howled gleefully as they completed the Gryffindor team gathering around the Quidditch hoops.

Rain still steadily plopped down and the occasional strike of lightning brightened the sky.

"Would you look at that, Wood!" George gestured at the Quaffle with a laugh, "Someone's written you a message."

Katie's eyes widened and she lurched forward to get a look at the Quaffle.

"What?" she demanded.

Oliver simply stared at the Quaffle silently.

Alicia and Angelina strained their necks to see the purported message.

"By Jove," Fred cried with what Katie knew was feigned surprise, "Kates, you've certainly fooled us all these years with your false pretenses of disgust and irritation."

"What?"she repeated.

She inched forward towards the unusually distracted Oliver Wood and snatched the Quaffle quickly from his hands.

"Hey!" he protested.

"What's it sa...Oh..." Angelina mumbled as she and Alicia read over Katie's shoulder.

"Oh... " Alicia echoed in surprise. "Kay..."

Katie herself was momentarily too shell-shocked to speak.

There it was scrolling repeatedly all over the surface of the Quaffle's dark hide: **I love you, Oliver Wood. I love you, Oliver Wood. I love you, Oliver Wood. I love you, Oliver Wood... **

"You can't be serious," Katie stammered, looking up from the ball, "This was obviously Fred and George. Honestly. Why would I ever do this? Aren't you supposed to keep your infatuations a secret?"

"Yeah..." Oliver chimed in, clearing his throat. "It's nonsense. Stupid... What the bloody hell were you two doing ruining a perfectly good play execution for this rubbish?"

Katie smacked both Fred and George on the backs of their heads.

"You two monstrosities had better get inside as quickly as possible because I really am **not** feeling sympathetic. At all."

Katie pulled her wand from the inner pocket of her robe and pointed it menacingly.

"I'll count to three," she warned. "One..."

Fred and George exchanged looks of fear before quickly zooming past her on their brooms to the castle.

"THREE!" she shouted, jetting after them, hell-bent on revenge over the twin causes of the cripplingly awkward end of practice.

Angelina and Alicia, almost hesitantly, followed suit to indoor refuge.

Wood lingered behind a few more seconds before seeking shelter himself, Quaffle under arm.

"They're dead," he muttered.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Any words for me? Will try to update sometime soon.**

**Less cranky Katie to come soon. **


	4. Backfire

"Merlin's Ghost!" Alicia cried upon seeing Fred and George as she and Angelina landed under the roofed area on the way to the changing rooms.

The twins hadn't even made it out of the stadium. Instead, they lied unconscious on the patch of grass.

"You didn't kill them... did you, Kates?" Angelina asked, slack jawed and wide eyed.

"No," Katie wheezed, winded by her chase. "I actually just locked their legs together, you know but they err... They collided head on. And now they're... well, they're sure to have a headache at least."

"Lucked out, huh?" Angelina noted as Alicia kicked the twins lightly to stir them; to no avail.

"I guess," Katie replied. "But since they're here..."

She hunched down and rummaged in their robes, pilfering their wands and pocketing them.

"Wow, aren't you petrifying?" Oliver said snidely as he dismounted his broom, water dripping from his dark hair. "Stealing their wands. You're a terror."

"Oh, I'm not done, Wood," she replied more darkly than he'd ever heard her before. "And if you have any sense of self-preservation, I'd shut that mouth of yours."

Both Angelina sand Alicia had gone silent as they watched Katie work her vengeance. Oliver settled down and joined them.

Katie paced, simply circled the twins like a vulture, considering carefully her plan.

"So, shall I cut their fingers off or just light them on fire right away?" she mused.

Angelina, Alicia and Oliver exchanged glances of mortification, wondering whether or not to reply.

"Kates, I mean... The punishment should fit the crime and the crime was pretty petty," Alicia reasoned, "I mean... for Fred and George. And don't forget, they're just Fred and George. They're harmless idiots, at worst. And look... Wood's not too riled about it."

Alicia shrunk back against the wall at Katie's withering stare.

"He," Katie growled pointing her wand ominously at Oliver, "Is irrelevant at the moment."

"She's right, you know. Like unrequited love," he started pointedly, smirking as he spoke. "Revenge is a private and personal experience."

His underhanded comment hadn't eluded her.

"You'd be lucky if I **spat** in your direction!" Katie hissed back.

"And you won't," he replied smoothly, "Because I am irrelevant at the moment."

Broodingly, she turned her back on them and began pulling off Fred and George's robes.

"What are you doing?" Angelina cried. "KATIE!"

"Calm down," she replied, "I'll stop before exposing anything we'll all regret. Here, take these."

She began tossing various articles of clothing in a pile to Oliver's left.

"All right... That's enough, I have to leave," Oliver announced, standing. "There's only so much degradation I can take."

"Good riddance!" Katie muttered as he hopped on his broom.

Angelina and Alicia on the other hand continued to stare, absolutely dumbfounded that within mere minutes, Katie had unflinchingly just stripped the Weasley twins to nothing but their essentials.

"That must've been some knock on the head," Alicia finally croaked. "They haven't stirred at all."

Katie smirked. "Okay... So I used a light stun spell but moving targets are a lot harder to deal with."

"'_Light_'?" Angelina squeaked with a high pitched laugh, "If you can undress two peoples without them moving once, that is not a 'light stun spell'. Are you sure you haven't killed them?"

"Well, if you guys are so uncomfortable, get out of here. I'm just seeking revenge. Do you two _want_ to see them naked?"

They blushed crimson.

"No!" Alicia and Angelina objected. "No, we don't!"

Unable to articulate themselves further, they exchanged looks before quickly shuffling to their feet.

"We'll see you later, Kates," Angelina said quickly, broom in hand, "We'll be going now."

"Remind Wood again to keep his mouth shut about this," Katie called in a sing-song fashion.

"Mental..." Alicia whispered to Angelina as they hurriedly vacated the crime scene.

"And now," Katie said to herself, nudging Fred delicately in the rib cage with her foot. "The final touch."

Pushing the pile of clothing a safe distance from the boys, she sighed contentedly and pulled out one of the twins' pilfered wands.

"Incendio."

The pile of robes burst into a bright blue flame and immediately began to turn to ashes; the flame even began to singe the grass.

"Aguamenti!" she said firmly, extinguishing the flame and leaving only cinders and mud.

She patted a drooling George on the head, stepped over Fred and made her way out of the stadium, back into the rain to the castle, but this time with a smile.

* * *

Katie was more than confused at the several high-fives and comments of "nice" she received in the halls on her way to the dormitory.

"Bet they'll think twice before pulling any more pranks on you, huh?" an ebullient Hermione Granger asked as she approached Katie, her arm full of books as usual.

"I doubt it," Katie replied dryly, "If they ever 'thought twice' about anything, they'd have much simpler lives... Why? Who told you?"

"Told me?" Hermione asked with a laugh, "No one. Colin's just posted photos of the two all over school. The twins just stumbled into the Great Hall in their erm... unmentionables a few minutes ago, sopping wet ."

The girls turned their heads towards the west as they heard the faint echos of "Katie Bell!"

"Hey Kates!" Harry and Ron called as they ran up the last stair towards them.

"Bloody good work," Ron praised with a broad grin, "I can't believe I've never thought of it."

"I wish I'd been there," Harry said, " I guess it wasn't the best day to miss practice, was it?"

She patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry; it was a **great** practice to miss, Potter. It was absolute hell. And I doubt you'd really have been interested in seeing Fred and George unclothed."

"That's a good point," Harry replied, flushing at the idea.

"You took their wands, burned their clothes and just _left_ them there?" Ron marveled aloud. "It's just... It's so simple. But brilliant."

Ron's continued incredulity amused Katie.

_You'd think I'd defeated Voldemort or something... _

"Aren't you worried you might get in trouble?" Hermione asked with characteristic apprehension.

"Not really," she replied with an irrepressibly smug expression, "They may be crazy and insensitive but they're still my friends. And now they know better than to really piss me off. And out of curiosity... Are the twins still running around in their pants?"

Harry laughed. "I doubt it. I'm sure someone's caught them at this point."

"I hope so. Don't want anyone to lose their stomachs..." she said grimly.

"Katie Bell, you're genius!" Lee announced as he rushed by her with a small book in hand. "'He's _so_ gorgeous... I just want to rip—'"

"Lee, don't you read from that!" Angelina screamed in objection, dashing after him. "Give that back to me! Now!"

His laugh and their rapid footsteps resonated as they quickly disappeared from Katie's sight.

"Wow..." Katie said to Hermione, Harry and Ron. "I would've done this sooner if I'd known it'd be so popular."

"Yeah," an indignant voice sounded from behind them, "Preferably _before_ it had started to rain so bloody hard."

The four of them turned and saw the men of the hour, the Weasley twins, standing before them.

_Just the way I left you..._ Katie thought.

"Gosh. I guess they haven't been caught quite yet," Hermione said, attempting to suppress a grin.

Harry and Ron also tried to stifle their own laughter. Katie stared at her victims with a small smile.

"Oh, we've been caught all right," George replied sourly. "We've just decided that while we've got AGES worth of additional detentions-"

"As well as endless photographic evidence of this public humiliation," Fred interjected with the identical grimace his brother held.

"We've decided to set aside the matter of clothing to find you, as you did take something rather important of ours," George finished.

"Um... Well..." Katie replied, biting her lip to keep from giggling as a crowd gathered around, "What exactly might those items have been?"

Fred and George held out their hands. "Oh, you know, just OUR WANDS!"

Their explosive exclamation elicited a small laugh from the spectators.

Katie smoothed her hair and smiled innocently. "Right. I'd nearly forgotten."

She fumbled through her robe pockets

"Here you are," she said calmly, returning the wands she had fished from her pocket to their respective owners. "No hard feelings, right?"

The effect of their venomous glares were diluted as they were still without proper robes and stood simply in their pants with nothing but their wands.

"You've started a war, Katie Bell," Fred growled threateningly. "You've been warned."

"And by the way," George said, "We'll be expecting new robes. We can't exactly walk around wearing ashes, can we?"

They turned on their heels smartly and strode away with dignity, presumably to clothe themselves.

The crowd began to dissipate until only the four Gryffindors remained.

"What do you think they'll do?" Katie asked a smugly smirking Ron.

"I don't know," he replied, "But I'd say any potential consequences are well worth this priceless moment."

* * *

"They're really mad, aren't they?" Katie asked Alicia as both attempted to make the tiniest of dents in their coursework.

Besides her confrontation with the furious Weasleys, the evening had been fairly routine.

Katie, Angelina and Alicia were working with a few other Gryffindors in the Common Room.

Alicia looked casually towards the far corner of the Room where Fred and George sat with their usual group of Gryffindor males, possibly conspiring Katie's downfall at that very moment.

"On the bright side, it does make concentrating easier," Alicia replied, turning back to her Potions text. "What are you worried about, anyway? If the worse they can do is get a Quaffle to flash lies, you have nothing to worry about. They're just a bit miffed that you've got them beat this time."

"I don't know, Licia. Somehow I think they'll be a bit more devious this time around."

"Ugh... What's a mandrake got to do with anything?" Katie heard Angelina mutter from down the table.

Alicia had already decided to ignore what she believed to be nothing more than Katie's paranoia. With a shrug, Katie returned to her schoolwork.

She looked up a few minutes later when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hello Katie," George said.

"Hello George," she responded looking from one twin to the other, "Hello Fred."

"We're here to tell you that we've forgiven you."

"I'm relieved," Katie replied with a smile. "I just want to apologize about what I did. I guess I was just furious from the whole rotten day, is all. Though to be honest, revenge did feel surprisingly good."

"Yes," Fred said, maintaining a serious countenance. "Well, we all act impetuously at times, don't we?"

"I'll get you your new robes by Saturday. Promise," Katie assured them.

"Good," George said

"I'm glad we're settled," Katie sighed contentedly.

The twins exchanged looks and finally cracked smiles, grinning broadly at Katie.

"Oh, no," Fred corrected, "No, no. We said we've forgiven you. Not that we're settled or even. You've misunderstood."

"Then what's the point of forgiving me then?" Katie cried.

The students shushed Katie harshly.

She stood and ushered the twins far from the table, back towards where they had been seated previously.

"What's the point of forgiving me then?" she repeated with a frown.

"Because we're friends, after all, and we'd certainly miss our chats with you."

"Do you realize how little sense you two are making? I'd rather you both be mad at me."

"Never, Katie dear," George continued. "It wouldn't make us very good friends, would it?"

"And seeking revenge does?"

They shrugged. "Sure."

Katie slouched and let out an aggravated sigh. "Okay... Fine... Could you do me a favor though?"

"Course."

They looked at her expectantly for her request.

"Please don't do any of that 'I love Oliver Wood' rubbish anymore. He's insufferable enough as it is. I don't need him to get any ideas."

"Oh, so you know already," Fred replied with a smirk. "Good."

She gasped. "No!"

"Yes," they said. "Oh, yes, Katie Bell. He'll be getting plenty of ideas, don't you worry."

"Come on! Anything but that!"

"Fred?" George asked, turning his attention to his brother. "Do you hear that?"

"I certainly do," Fred confirmed.

"What? Hear what?" Katie asked in distress.

"Rumors," an amused George told her. "The rustle of rumors rushing through the halls."

"Oh my God..." Katie mumbled in devastation, "_Anything_ else-"

"It won't be so bad," Fred guaranteed, clapping a hand on her shoulder, "You'll uhh... You'll **love** what comes of it."

They snickered slyly.

"Or should we say you'll love 'who' comes of it?"

Having spoken the last words once again, the Weasleys left Katie with just enough information about their plot to leave her vaguely aware of their intentions but with no way to counter them.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading and your comments for those of you who have made them. **

**Obviously, I am no Briton and just so I don't make the dialogue too ridiculously American (Not that it can really be helped, sorry anyway), I was wondering if you English readers could lend me a hand and give me a few common sort of words/phrases that non-British Harry Potter writers frequently get "wrong", such as "vacation" instead of "holiday". I'd much appreciate it.**

**Tootles!**


	5. Just a Little Bit Longer

"Mmm..." she mumbled, fluttering her eyes open.

The grass was slightly damp, cool and soft and the dark sky twinkled with bright stars and planets. She relished the feeling of her bare skin against the earth and let out a small giggle.

"Hello, love," said a deep, rough voice.

Katie smiled sleepily at his light touch against her exposed neck. "Hi."

He leaned in and kissed her softly, his hands traveling down her shoulders, skimming across her breasts and then resting on her hips. A guttural growl escaped her lips as he pulled her to him more forcefully. Electricity tingled her to her toes as she traced her hands across his hard stomach and then to a firm buttocks.

"This was a fantastic idea," she mumbled in his ear. "I can't believe we're doing this..."

He nuzzled her neck and licked his lips absent mindedly. "I can."

She laughed and let him do as he wished. To her great surprise, he stopped short and looked up at her, his wide doe eyes making her weak.

"Katie?"

"Yes?" she replied breathlessly.

"It's breakfast."

"What? It's the middle of the nigh-"

"BREAKFAST!"

"Oliver!" Katie shouted before her eyes threw open and she found herself in her bed sweating, as Angelina and Alicia stared at her expectantly.

"U-uhh..." Alicia croaked in shock.

"Is... Did you just say..." Angelina stammered. "'Oliver'?"

"No!" Katie yelled, her face already bright red with embarrassment at the unholy hour that morning. "What? What are you waking me for? It's hardly five."

"We have practice, you dunce," Alicia said. "Now don't change the subject. You just screamed 'Oliver'. Your face is red. You were moaning and sweating and-"

Angelina gasped, a smile creeping on her face. "You just-"

Katie shook her head profusely. "NO! NO! I didn't... I had a nightmare, okay?"

"Please. Don't even try to convince me of that rubbish. You just had a-"

"Wet dream." Alicia said, completing the sentence and smirking victoriously.

"Stop, okay? It wasn't... what you just said. It was just a bad dream. I-it was nothing!"

Alicia and Angelina exchanged skeptical looks and mischievous smiles reminiscent of the Weasley twins. Katie knew that her face had probably gotten even redder and decided that there was no wriggling her way out of this circumstance; they knew and feigning ignorance would do nothing. Katie could only hope for mercy.

"Then admit it," Angelina said.

"Why? You guys already know!" Katie fired back.

They let out a laugh. "Know what, Kates? You said that we had it all wrong."

"Guys..." Katie groaned in mortification, squirming in her damp sheets. "Don't do this. I've already got Fred and George being royal pains, I don't need my two best friends acting the same way. Just give me a break."

Alicia let out a sigh. "Fine... But we're not done talking about this. We're going to talk about it."

"What are you, my mum?"

Katie rolled her eyes and kicked her sheets away. Swinging her legs out of bed, she slouched unhappily despite one of the best dreams she'd had in ages.

"Get changed quickly," Angelina said. "We have to go soon. You know how mad Wood gets when the world fails to meet his expectations."

"I dunno, Angie... Maybe if Katie tells him the truth about why she's so late-"

"Okay!" Katie screamed, ready to strangle the both of them. "GET OUT! I'm going!"

"We'll save you a seat at breakfast."

"Next to Wood, don't worry," Alicia called before dashing away.

Feeling the slight chill of the stale morning air, Katie quickly scurried to the shower and attempted to scrub her skin raw until she got rid of every single bug crawling under her skin. She couldn't believe how badly her subconscious had betrayed her; a real Peter Pettigrew. Denial was pointless; Angelina and Alicia knew and even worse, she herself knew. There was no denying that the voice had belonged to... She cringed as she washed the shampoo vigorously from her hair. She couldn't even _think_ his name without flushing crimson and wanting to claw her skin off.

"You're an absolute git," she scolded herself as the hot water rushed against her. "Ugh... Absolutely mad. As if..."

A heavy feeling of dread coiled and settled inside her stomach. She couldn't bear to go to Quidditch practice with four of her team members bent on making her miserable for the amusement of the student body. And to face **him**? Normally, she'd be up to the challenge but she knew that she would need time to regain her senses.

"Kill me," she muttered as she stared at herself in the mirror. "If there is a sense of justice in the world, I will be struck dead today."

At that moment, her stomach rumbled loudly; she rolled her eyes.

"I was hoping for something a bit faster to strike me dead but starvation is good too..."

As soon as Katie arrived at the Gryffindor table, her eyes shifted to Angelina and Alicia who stared back blankly, though she didn't even want to know what sorts of things their respective imaginations were coming up with; she sat down besides them awkwardly One uncomfortable bite into her buttered toast later, sparse, conspiratory chatter started up. Katie noted that Harry was paying unusually close attention to his kippers, as if they'd leap off his plate otherwise, while the twins occupied themselves in a mock sword fight with bacon as weapons. Though the seat to her right was empty, Katie had a sinking feeling that Alicia and Angelina hadn't been kidding about saving her a seat next to Oliver.

"You look better," Alicia said encouragingly. Angelina nodded in agreement.

"Sick already?" Fred inquired as he smacked his brother in the face with a slab of bacon.

"Oh, I'm sick all right," Katie replied. "Sick, sick, sick."

"Love si..." Alicia started before wincing from Katie's kick to her shin. "Err. A cold. You know, that practice in the rain probably did it."

"Yes. The rain," Angelina said mechanically as Alicia rubbed her throbbing leg.

"Who's sick?"

"Is that concern I sense?" George called, giving Oliver a smack on the arm as he passed him.

"'Course I'm concerned. You can't win the Quidditch Cup short one player. Not that we could at this point either, not with the way we've been playing."

"You've got that right. The team couldn't win a match if the other team forfeited. Honestly, it took you long enough to realize. Do you have a brain, Wood? Or is it just an empty spot that only a stupid metal cup can fill? Maybe if we'd get a chance to sleep, we'd be able to function properly."

A leaden silence settled among the group. Oliver stared at Katie with a combination of shock and disgust before his brows knitted into a severe, unyielding glare.

"You know what, Bell? I don't hear anyone else complaining. Does anyone have anything to add?"

The silence remained.

"Fine then," Oliver continued, his voice ringing steely and clear in the early morning. "Bell, you've made your opinions pretty clear. Don't come to practice. I don't want to see you on the field and I doubt anyone else does either. We'll find someone else."

Katie attempted to apologize, having realized the gravity of her words but was stunned into complete silence. She watched as the team followed Oliver away from the table outside toward the Quidditch pitch. Alicia and Harry took a quick glance back at Katie before turning forward and following the others.

"Oh no..." she finally uttered, glad only a few bookish first years were up early enough to witness her humiliation.

She spent her morning in a corner in the library, reluctantly plowing through scrolls and scrolls of Potions and Transfiguration assignments. Her primary concern was still however making amends to her teammates. Even to Oliver. Despite the fact that he was often completely insensitive to others, Katie knew that he cared about the team first and foremost; it was the homicidal intensity of his dedication that made her so crazy and angry but during quieter moments, reverent and obliging as well. She wondered if Fred and George would take pity on her banishment from the pitch or if her tirade was enough to fuel their fires.

"Afternoon, Kate," George said suddenly, shuffling into the seat across from her.

"George... You scared me... A-are you out of practice? Where's Fred?"

He rolled his wide blue eyes. "Despite common misconception Fred and I can live separate existences; we're not conjoined. Spontaneous mischief is just easier when you have a partner in crime nearby. And yes, we're out of practice and you can thank Wood you weren't there. I really thought I would die out there. He was on a rampage, Wood, I mean."

"I'm sorry, George. About what I said this morning.. I just... I was a little frustrated this morning and I guess I chose a really bad time to take it out on everyone. I've been doing that a lot these days. It's just that Wood makes me absolutely insane. Anyway, I didn't mean to insult everyone's hard work. I really want to be part of the team."

"We know, Kate," he said, patting her hand gently. "We never doubted it; we were just surprised is all. No one took it too much to heart. Except Wood. And... well, he's the one you'll have to convince if you don't want to be stranded in the stadium seats all year long. But you will probably have to start being a little nicer to your mates, huh?"

"Of course." She swallowed with difficulty. "George?"

"Kates?"

"Thanks for checking up on me."

"I wouldn't be so quick to thank me just yet."

"What?"

"Fred and I are still miffed about the whole nakedness thing. We haven't forgotten just because you've been suspended from Quidditch. We'll try to hold Wood off from replacing you, though it's doubtful he'd find anyone even comparable."

The combination of George's obvious threat and compliment made Katie's head spin; she wasn't sure whether to hug him or rip a clump of his red hair clean out.

"Will you at least tell me _what_ you did so I know what to expect?" she asked tiredly, acting upon the more passive of her two potential reactions.

"You'll be tired of knowing by tomorrow night, Kates. You've waited this long; a little while longer won't kill you."

"You are a fantastic friend, George. And a worthy foe."

"You as well."

They smiled at one another facetiously. George eventually clapped her on the shoulder and cryptically wished her luck. She didn't even bother to try to decipher his meaning.

Dinner that evening was manic. The Great Hall roared louder that usual and there was an odd heat in the air, as if the student body was just radiating pheromones and wild energy. If Katie wasn't "lying low" by cramming mouthfuls of pasty or roast chicken, she was fixated on Oliver's head. She was scared to death that her recent bout of unchecked hostility had finally done in her in and taken away one of the few things she honestly adored about school: Quidditch.

"Katie?" Hermione whispered. "Are you okay? You've eaten almost an entire chicken."

"And almost all of the pasties this side of the table," Ron said.

"Huh? Oh. Um. Yeah. I'm just hungry.

"Voracious," Angelina remarked. "I guess Potions and Transfigurations is as draining as being pummeled to death with a ball for four hours."

Katie laughed weakly. Alicia shook her firmly by the shoulder.

"Katie, that laugh was scary, like my gran after she's had too much wine. And you've been staring into thin air all night." Alicia lowered her voice. "Listen, if you're worried that we told everyone about your little dream this morning, don't be. We wouldn't. We were just teasing, you know that. Though we _are_ going to talk about it."

"No, it's not that. I'm... just..."

"Dying?" Fred suggested.

"I'm fine, guys. Promise. I did apologize to everyone, right?"

There was a collective chuckle from the Quidditch team as well as a few other knowing Gryffindors.

"Only since this afternoon," Harry replied. "It's fine. No one's got anything against you."

"Well..." Alicia began.

A look of understanding dawned on Harry's face and he fidgeted with his glasses uncomfortably. "Oh. Right. "

"It's fine," Katie replied. "I just... have to explain that I spoke poorly and smooth things over. Hopefully before our first match. In three days."

"Good luck," Harry replied with skepticism. The others echoed similar sentiments.

For the first time that evening, Oliver looked in Katie's direction, as if having heard her, but quickly returned to his conversation with another student.

After loitering predatorily in the corridors outside of the Great Hall, Katie finally caught Oliver leaving with Fred, George and an unfamiliar light haired Ravenclaw girl. She unsuccessfully tried to draw his attention with subtle coughs as she followed him down the hall towards the dormitories but ultimately had to resort to shouting.

He whipped around, his face slightly pale from the sudden fright, but his expression quickly hardened again. The rest of the group looked on with curiosity.

"Bell," he greeted her curtly.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked with uncharacteristic meekness.

"You could."

She swallowed the lump in her throat she knew to be her pride; just because he was addressing her as if she were a child in front of three fellow students did not mean she had to lash out at him. That obviously wasn't working for her.

"_May_ I talk to you then? A-alone?"

"Okay," he replied, gesturing for the others to continue without him.

Despite her rigid discomfort with the whole predicament, she noticed Fred and George exchanging disturbing looks and gesturing obscenely to her. The Ravenclaw stared at her with cool, unwavering detachment; Katie wondered if Oliver had taught her that particular stare.

"Well?" Oliver demanded. "What is it?"

"I-I..." she stammered. "I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn't mean it. I know that everyone on the team is working hard and you're no exception and to be fair, I'm not either. I'm sorry for what I said and if you let me, I'll be the first one on that pitch whatever time you ask from now on."

Katie managed to maintain direct eye contact with Wood until he conceded a small smile.

"Glad to hear it," he said, running a hand through his hair. "But you're not back on the team."

She gasped. "WHAT?"

His smile widened into a nasty grin and his eyes twinkled. "I hold grudges, Bell."

"Do you think I'm joking?"

"No, no. I have no doubt that you're serious but I need a few more days to fester. To punish you, really. You may be a damn good Chaser but I'm done with putting up with you. At least until the team gets crushed a few times. That was an impressive apology though. Night, Bell."

Katie watched Oliver quickly run down the hall.

_How typical..._ she thought.

**Author's Note: Happy update. Sorry as usual but I'm too lazy for my own good. Feedback would be lovely if you've got any. I'll try to update again soon, soon, soon. :)**


	6. Promises

"Who knew he had it in him?" Angelina asked after Katie relayed the events that had occurred earlier.

"Who didn't?"

"What am I supposed to do now then?" Katie asked. "Just watch and cheer like a... a..."

"Fan. Because as of today, you are one," Alicia said.

Katie frowned and collapsed into the arm chair with a frustrated grunt. "You're right..."

"Do you want to hear about today? Maybe it'll give you a little lift."

"Sure," she replied dully. "Why not? George only told me how horrible it was but then again, is it ever anything else?"

"Today, I almost got beaten half to death with a bludger courtesy of Fred, actually. I swear he was doing it on purpose," Angelina said. "Not to mention verbal abuse like you couldn't imagine. Wood might as well have been drunk; I've only heard that kind of talk in pubs. Not the good kind of pub either.... Alicia, what else happened today?"

Alicia looked up from the pile of paper she'd shredded to toss into the fire and chewed her tongue thoughtfully. "Today... Well, no... Oh, who cares?" she suddenly exclaimed. "It was painful; the kind you only know when you're there, no offense, Katie. Can we talk about your crazy dream instead?"

"Nice, Licia," Angelina remarked, rolling her eyes. "Very tactful."

"I'm sorry. I've had it with these recent practices! Somehow I don't think that I'll ever get used to the feeling of impending death. I'd trade places with you if I could, Katie but... I can't. I just know that it depresses you to hear about practice and hard for us to explain. You apologized and it didn't convince him. What can we really do at this point? "

"I just asked that!" Katie replied.

"Try a low cut shirt and chocolates the next apology, I don't know," Alicia replied evenly, "I just think that this topic of conversation is expired, you know? Can we just move on? Specifically to this dream of yours."

"Why are you so interested in that idiotic dream?" Katie snapped, irritated by Alicia's untimely decision to be honest. "And _why_ would I want to talk about that dream now given that the subject of this dream managed to dismiss me not once, but twice today!"

"Come on, stop being a baby. You must want to talk about it a little. It's not everyday you have... I wouldn't know but my assumption is that that dream is not a regular one. What do you think, Angelina?"

Angelina, who had fallen silent since Alicia's outburst, shrugged and admitted, "I'm still curious."

After releasing another cathartic sigh, Katie curled tightly into the confines of the soft armchair. The Common Room was relatively empty that evening, most of the students that were still up were first and second years. Alicia looked at Katie with anticipation, having burned all of the tiny squares of paper in the pile she had earlier made, and Angelina simply waited with her usual patience.

"We were underneath some tree on school grounds," Katie began in a small whisper. "Naked. Being... gross."

"You mean snogging?" Alicia replied, her interest bubbling despite the hushed nature of the conversation. Angelina let out a giggle.

"This is too weird; I can't describe this dream. It really doesn't help me in repressing it. It's disgusting and... I think I need a shower just _thinking_ about it."

"It sounds brilliant to me. I would prefer it not be Wood but he's got a great body for that kind of dream," Alicia said.

Angelina laughed. "Agreed. Were you as repulsed in the dream as you are now?"

"No, unfortunately. Can we leave it alone now, Alicia?"

"Where do you think he went?" Alicia continued as Angelina let out a long yawn.

"Who?"

"Wood. You said he left with Fred, George and a Ravenclaw. Who was the girl?"

"I dunno. She had wavy blonde hair. Long. Brown eyes," Katie described. "Small, thin... Sort of like a bird, actually. What year is she?"

"My year," said a voice. "She's a nice girl: Abby Morris."

The girls looked at the doorway and saw Fred peering in.

"Would you _please_ stop eavesdropping?" Katie cried, pulling at her hair in frustration. "_Please!"_

"Only if you start doing a better job being secretive," he replied as he strode in and sat himself among them. "Curious about Abby, Katie? Why's that?"

"I'm not. Alicia is," Katie said defensively.

He looked to Alicia in surprise. "Really? Why?"

Alicia flushed and held up a defiant hand. "Katie just saw her in the hallways a little while ago and I asked her about her, okay?"

Fred looked back to Katie and grinned. "Oh, right. You pulled Wood away from her for a few minutes. Only for a few minutes though."

Katie grimaced. "I just asked him about letting me back on the team."

"And?"

"No luck. He told me that he holds grudges. He needs to punish me longer, he said. That he can stand a few losses because he's tired of dealing with me."

Fred laughed and kicked his feet onto the empty chair across from him, stretching his long legs comfortably. "Bluffing. He'd never take losses he could have prevented. Though I guess he has a point about you being exhausting."

He stretched an arm around Angelina who smacked his hand. "Do no touch me, Fred. If you want to leave this room with both arms and hands, I would take my warning seriously."

"Aww, Angelina," he mumbled. "If you're mad about practice today... I didn't mean anything by it."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted, leaping out of her chair and storming out.

Alicia, Katie and Fred sat in a stunned silence for a few moments before Alicia said that she was going to check in with her and quickly left as well. George and Katie sat next to one another and laughed.

"She's wonkier than this chair," Fred commented. "It's practically illegal to have a sense of humor these days."

"She's just out of sorts. I think she and Lee have finally had enough of each other."

"What a surprise," Fred said dryly.

"Am I really so hard to manage, Fred?" Katie asked tiredly.

"Let's just put it nicely and say that you've been an absolute arse."

"I thought you were trying to put it 'nicely'."

"I misspoke," he replied unapologetically. "What's going on with you, Katie? It can't just be Wood, can it? You've known him for a few years and this is the first time you've acted like a maniac."

"He's worn me down, I think. I just can't stand him anymore. I'm ready for him to graduate already."

"You know he doesn't really like Abby very much? Says they don't really have much in common besides-"

"Shared saliva?" Katie interrupted.

"Katie!" Fred cried, feigning offense. "How could you suggest that? He just helps her with Potions."

"Who hasn't used _that _excuse before?"

"Interesting..." The pause in his reply was unnerving; Katie wondered what had popped into his head, understanding that Fred rarely stopped midsentence unless there was a good reason. He seemed to disregard whatever thought he had and continued on. "Actually, he said that they don't have much in common besides a pollen allergy. I'll ask him about the saliva though. He's probably just forgotten that."

* * *

The next morning, a Sunday, was slower than most. Few students left their beds for breakfast before eleven o'clock. A slow but steady drizzle shrouded the cool, fall day into one monochromatic shade of drab grey. Gryffindor's table was unusually quiet; the scrapes of silverware and the collective sound of mouths chewing were louder than any spot of conversation that passed between students. Heaps of toast, eggs, kippers and porridge sat idly as students only took meager servings if they took any.

"How are you feeling?" Katie managed to ask Angelina groggily, breaking the lull.

She barely glanced up. "Ready to hibernate for a few hundred years or so. Too bad I've managed to neglect nearly a weeks worth of Charms. I don't think I'll be able to go to Hogsmeade today."

"I'll be sure to bring you back some Chocolate Frogs," Katie replied, attempting mild cheer. "Do you think _anyone_ is up to go to Hogsmeade today? It's like the breakfast of the living dead here."

Angelina let out a small laugh. "The worst thing that could happen is you and Alicia will spend the day sucking down Butterbeers. Could you also bring back some toffee as well?"

"Course. I-"

"Angelina, did you say Charms?" Fred chirped suddenly from across the table. "Because I'd be more than happy to help."

She pretended not to hear him. "And please make sure _that_ one leaves with you."

"He's just being friendly," Alicia piped in. "Now that you and..."Alicia stopped midsentence upon seeing a sour and dark expression flash across Angelina's face; she turned to Katie instead. "Let's go."

"We'll see you later," Katie told Angelina.

Alicia gave a meek wave goodbye as she and Katie left the table.

* * *

Once inside the village, Katie and Alicia felt their spirits rise. The few other students who had ventured out that day seemed more relaxed as well, as if the castle had been more repressive than the weather. The brown and slate stone buildings and overcast sky vivified the colors from the students' clothing particularly well and the light of window displays glowed warmly. After browsing through several shops and finding little worth buying, the girls decided to head into Honeydukes to purchase the toffee and chocolate Katie had promised Angelina.

"When do you plan on eating all of that?" Alicia asked in amazement as Katie stacked several additional sweets onto the counter.

"Seeing as how I've got all this free time, what with my not having to attend practices, I think it'll be more difficult to find enough candy to fill the time."

"You heard Fred last night; you'll be back in no time."

"Just in case," Katie replied after she thanked the petite woman who handed her her bag. Alicia held the door open and the two walked down the street to The Three Broomsticks. They stepped into the inn just as a harsh rush of air heralded a colder rain and the rumblings of thunder.

"Oi!" two voices called as soon as they had settled at a small corner table.

"It's Fred and George," Alicia said after tapping Katie's shoulder. "And... Umm... Nevermind, let's just go, shall we?"

She dragged Katie by the shirtsleeve to where the others sat.

"Aren't you forgetting some..." Katie gave a small frown when she noticed that indeed, her friend had neglected to mention somebody. "Body..."

"Butterbeer?" George offered her as she looked away from what she knew to be Oliver's feet with distaste. "Fantastic weather today, don't you think?"

"Glorious," Katie replied as she sat wedged between Alicia and George with Fred and Oliver seated across from them. Katie met Oliver's blank gaze briefly.

George gestured to Katie and Alicia and said loudly, "Glad you two came; we were just talking about the upcoming match against Slytherin."

"Right," Fred continued before turning towards Oliver. "You know, Wood. I'd say we might get the pulp beaten out of us without Bell."

"We'll see," he replied coolly, his eyes fixed on a particular gash in the dark wood of the laquered table.

"Come on, Wood!" Katie suddenly shouted. "You hate to lose, especially against Slytherin. You're not going to replace me; we all know it, so you might as well just let me back on the team! I apologized and I would think you of all people would know better than to put personal vendettas before what's best for the team. It's your last year playing; I'd think you'd want that Cup more than any of us."

The twins and Alicia watched Oliver for a response; he stood abruptly and stalked off.

"Hey!" she cried, following him out the door. "Stop! What's the matter with you? Since when are you the silent type? Speak!"

He spun around and gave her a small but nonetheless, surprisingly rough shove away. "You know what, Bell? I'll speak to you when I feel like it. Maybe once you remember your manners. I told you before and I'll say it one more time, I've about had enough of you."

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, taken aback.

He scoffed and wiped at the raindrops that had fallen onto his face hastily. "I don't know what happened to you over the summer holiday but you've turned into a complete harpie. I hate the way you yell and act so indignantly about everything. I'm thick skinned but there's only so much I'll take from a brat like you."

"I just want to play Quidditch is all," Katie replied. "I'm sorry if I've been rude but you can't take Quidditch away from me. I care about it more than anything and I'll do whatever I have to do to play again. I'll even work on my attitude."

His expression softened slightly at the sincerity of her words. "Make it a promise."

"Promise," she said quickly. "Promise."

His mouth set into a line and he nodded curtly. "You're right though. I do hate to lose."

"So...?"

"Practice tomorrow is at five."

Katie beamed and gave thumbs up to her teammates who had been watching the altercation from a window; they smiled back.

* * *

"You know she's just horrible around you because she's in love with you," Fred told Oliver as they headed back from their afternoon excursion to the House.

George shot his brother a bemused look and silently mouthed back what Fred had just said with shock. Oliver stopped dead and stared at Fred.

"What?" he said.

"Yeah...." Fred continued, quickly and surreptitiously gesturing for George to play along. "I told her last night, after you blew her off in the hallway to catch up to Abby, that you had told me that the only thing you and Abby had in common was a pollen allergy and uh... Katie said you probably also had saliva in common."

"She said _what? _I just help Abby with-"

Fred quickly interrupted, "That's what I kept telling her but... she's convinced. Now you know why she's so keyed up these days. Sad, isn't it? She had a dream about you too, you know."

"You're making this up," Oliver finally concluded as he began to split away from the twins to go to the boys' dormitory. "Taking a right piss."

"Oddly specific thing to lie about, isn't it?" George called up the staircase. "It makes sense if you think about it."

There was no response. The Weasleys grinned at one another.

"Where did all of that come from?" George asked with admiration.

"We promised Katie a lesson and she'll get one."

"She isn't really in love or dreaming about him, is she?"

"Oh, I don't know. I took a few liberties. Think any of this will catch on?"

"Well," George considered. "Not that I condone rumor mongering but... I think a few more people could do wonders for the intrigue. A few hundred people, maybe? A school of witchcraft and wizardry, for example."

Fred smirked. "Brilliant."


	7. A Letter in the Rumor Mill

"Her?" a Hufflepuff girl said to her group of friends as they passed Katie on the staircase.

She whipped her head around so quickly she received an unpleasant mouthful of her own hair. Before she could listen in on anymore of their conversation, the low growl of the scraping stone stairs rumbled. Bored with waiting in one place for Angelina to finish a Charms test, Katie decided to stay seated on the stairs; she braced herself for the shift. The staircase had shifted to the corridors nearest to the Ravenclaw dormitories; Katie had barely scrambled out of the way quickly enough to avoid a rush of first years chasing after what appeared to be a cat.

"Hello, Bell," Roger Davies greeted her suddenly.

"Umm... hullo, Roger," she replied, meeting his eyes but unsure as to why a relative stranger had decided to so haphazardly strike up a conversation.

"You're back on the team, I heard."

She gave a stiff, polite smile and nodded. "That's right."

"And just before the big match today. What luck."

The tone in his voice belied his harmless words; Katie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Pardon?"

"Lucky that Wood changed his mind so quickly, I mean," he replied in the same casual manner. "But I suppose it would have been difficult for him to really resist that kind of persuasion."

"What?" she repeated, this time in a panic.

A slight smirk appeared on Roger's face. "You would know better than I would. Unless you're willing to demonstrate, of course."

He laughed before continuing on his way without another word; Katie considered following him when something else caught her attention.

"Wait... So she... Wait, slow down, Abby... What bell?"

"... fancies him?" asked the same slender, birdlike Ravenclaw from a previous evening to her friend. The two loitered near Katie at the base of the staircase, neither having noticed her. She strained to hear their harried conversation.

"But he..."

Abby grinned, her white teeth seeming to blend in with her pale skin. "I know! And she's so-" she stopped short when a boy with sandy hair jostled her playfully. "Hey!"

Both she and her friend erupted in a fit of giggles as the boy winked, obviously enamored with his own fantastic charms; Katie herself let out a small laugh at their fawning but froze when Abby suddenly locked eyes with her.

"You there! Gryffindor girl!"

As the feeling of amusement rushed out of her, mortification settled in.

"Y-yes?" Katie stammered, feeling even greater unease as Abby's friends stared at her too.

"You know Oliver Wood, right?"

"Mhm..."

Abby smiled sweetly. "Could you give him something for me?"

"Uh..."

"Please? I would do it myself but... you're more likely to see him, I suppose."

Hands defiantly on her hips, Katie finally rejoined, "What is it exactly you have for him?"

"This," Abby replied, rummaging quickly in her bag and handing Katie a small envelope. Katie glanced from the envelope back to Abby. "Oh... Sure... I'll try to get it to him."

"Thanks." The Ravenclaw flashed a bright smile before walking away, her group of friends trotting at her heels.

The envelope was a pale cream with flecks of pretty gold strands speckled on the surface. Oliver's name was written in the upper corner of the envelope in what Katie presumed to be Abby's dainty, feminine handwriting. Multiple wild ideas flashed through her head as to what the letter's contents were but the sudden tremble of the stairs reminded her that she had waited for Angelina in the first place so they could go to the game together. Once the stairs stilled, Katie sprinted through the halls and out to the field.

* * *

Though her lungs still burned from the sprint over, Katie was glad to have arrived on time.

"Where did you go?" Angelina asked as Oliver spoke to Alicia and Harry. "I waited for ten minutes. We have to get to the pitch soon."

"Sorry, the stairs moved and I got into some really weird business."

"What weird business?"

"I was on the stairs and I swear I heard some Hufflepuffs talking about me, and then once the stairs shifted, Roger Davies started talking about me persuading Wood to do... something and then when he left, that Abby Morris girl gave me a letter to give to Wood."

Angelina's face contorted. "A letter?"

"Roger Davies?" George asked. He and Fred pried a space between Angelina and Katie with their brooms. "You got a letter from Roger Davies?"

"No," Katie corrected. "It's from Abby and it's addressed to Wood."

The twins grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. Fred laughed and drew Katie into a huddle. "Katie. You can't be giving your competition no favors."

"Are you thick? She's in Ravenclaw, not Slyther-"

"_You're_ thick," Fred retorted. "I meant that she's your uhh... romantic competition, not Quidditch."

"Stop it. The letter's likely just about Potions or something; she gave me a book of his to return too."

"You're right. It could say something like 'Oh, Oliver... my body tingled when you bruised the hellebore leaves for the Draught of Peace and your arms looked so strong stirring the cauldron. I wish you'd bruise _me_ up and-"

"Fred," Katie said sternly. "Keep your fantasies about Wood to yourself or I think I might vomit. And it'll shut you up, you can take the stupid letter and book to him yourself."

"But Abby wanted you to do it."

"What's the difference as long as it gets to him?" Katie asked in a low hiss.

"He'd appreciate it _so_ much more from you," George replied. "Don't worry. We'll try to make sure to arrange everything for you. Won't we, Fred? Angelina?"

"Of course," Angelina agreed with a broad grin. "Anything in the name of love."

"That's the spirit!" Fred replied, clapping her shoulder and looking to her. "About us..."

"There isn't an 'us', Fred. Now, come on, Wood looks about done blathering away to those two. We've got a match to win."

Katie cursed the collective Gryffindor mutiny while the team crowded together, anxious to begin playing. Though it was a rare weekday match, she could still hear the rattle and roar from the stadium; something about the most prominent House rivalries always managed to draw crowds.

"All right...." Oliver said after a deep breath. "Everyone knows what the Falmouth Falcons say, if you can't win, at least break some heads."

"More poetic words have never been spoken," Alicia said. "Truly inspirational."

"Break some heads, break some heads, break some heads!" the twins chanted over the sonorous blast of Madam Hooch's whistle.

The game passed faster than Katie had expected but the score remained zero-zero. After virtually ramming one of the Slytherin Chaser into a stand, Angelina intercepted the Quaffle and with both Alicia and Katie nearby, jetted to the opposing side of the field. The girls passed the Quaffle back and forth with little difficulty when a Slytherin cuffed the end of Katie's broom, tossing her halfway off of it. Though Alicia and Angelina seemed to pause for a second, they quickly continued on; sympathy was something everyone had agreed to put aside except during matches, unless of course there was a potentially mortal situation. The Gryffindor crowd roared at the ding of the scoreboard; Alicia had scored. Firmly reseated on her broom, Katie gave Alicia a quick congratulatory wave before resuming play. Nearly an hour later, Slytherin had managed to take a considerable lead and as the Gryffindor Chasers became more frustrated, an inordinate number of fumbles and fouls had occurred to their dismay; Oliver seemed about ready to commit suicide. Still, Katie rushed after the Quaffle with greater urgency, hoping in the meantime that Harry would catch the Snitch. She finally gained possession of the ball after a poor pass by Chaser Pucey and bulleted through a clearing among the players towards the hoops. Just as she threw the Quaffle, Katie heard Fred and George call her, felt a hard thwack on her head and was submerged in darkness.

* * *

"She's alive!" Katie heard someone shout.

"Is that Harry?" she muttered, unwilling to yet open her eyes, especially after a heavy jolt of pain surged to her head after a simple breath; she groaned. Though she could wriggle her toes and fingers without too much discomfort, moving her head, neck or shoulders was agonizing.

"And Fred."

"And George."

Angelina's voice sounded next, "Don't forget me."

"Me too," Oliver said.

"And me," Alicia chirped last of all. "Whole team's here."

Shadowy outlines sharpened to form the faces of her teammates, all dressed in fresh clothes and clean of mud and grass stains.

"Did we win?" Katie asked, hoarsely, squinting at the sterile, bright light of the Hospital Wing.

"No," Oliver said as he grinned. "We didn't."

"Am I hallucinating or is he actually happy?" she asked, shifting her focus to Fred, who stood to her left. "Am I in heaven?"

George snorted. "No. A Bludger bashed you off your broom and you hit your head so badly that the two Captains agreed to postpone the game. The accident was a mess with your blood and brain leaking onto the field and all."

She frowned. "And where were you two when that Bludger hit me?"

"Uh... right, well, sorry, Kates. We're only human. We're very sorry... Sorry."

"And when did you all have the time to change clothes?"

All six of her visitors smiled.

Oliver explained with marked kindness, "Bell, It's Thursday. You've been in and out of consciousness for a little over two days."

"At least I missed a Transfiguration test," she said. "Do you know when I'm allowed to leave?"

"Madam Pomfrey said the day after you wake up," Fred answered. "She says you'll probably feel like shite for about a week. No Quidditch till then either."

Katie grumbled unhappily. "So when do we pick up the game?"

"Hopefully Slytherin and Madam Hooch are all right with waiting that long. Otherwise..." Alicia trailed off before shrugging. "We're playing with two Chasers."

"I'll try to stall as long as I can," Oliver assured the team, though Katie felt as if he was addressing her specifically. His unusually steady gaze made her want to hide under her sheets, and she wondered if her other teammates noticed.

"We were all about to leave for dinner when you woke up," Angelina said. "But I'll stay here if you-"

"No," Katie interrupted, wincing from an attempt to shake her head. "Don't. Go eat. I'm fine by myself for awhile. Besides, Madam Pomfrey is probably going to shoo you out soon anyway."

Angelina nodded and gave her a light pat on the foot before turning to leave. "We'll all see you tomorrow, Katie."

Each person gave his or her own goodbye for the evening, cracked a joke or two and wished her well before filing out, Oliver last of all.

"Hey, Wood?" Katie called just as he pushed the door open. He faced her again, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"Have I been wearing these robes the entire time?"

A smile cracked on his face and he let out a minor chuckle. "Just about."

"Did I at least score that goal?"

He outright laughed at her second question, his broad shoulders rising and falling. "No. You weren't even close."

"Are you disappointed?"

Oliver shook his head calmly. "I would be if we didn't have a whole second half to play."

"But since we do?"

"I'll live with it."

He stalled a moment longer and sheepishly nodded to Katie a final time. Before he could walk more than a few meters down the hall, Oliver encountered Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia. Each held smirks and most probably, his or her own set of prying and mocking comments, questions and facial expressions.

"You look awfully happy," Alicia noted coyly as they walked along as she and Angelina smiled at one another.

"She finally kiss you or something?" Fred jibed.

A rush of blood suddenly stained Oliver's face as a deep red blush crept onto his cheeks.

"Oh, shut up!" he barked.


	8. A Drink for Your Losses

Katie stared into the dark ceiling above her bed and whistled a long note, listening as the stone muffled the echoes. The odor of the damp, cloying air reminded her why she avoided the Hospital Wing in the first place, but at least in the hospital she was sheltered from the onslaught of schoolwork, and more recently, from student scrutiny.

Obviously Fred and George were the masterminds behind the recent incidents, but she had to know what they were saying to be able to do anything. Though the alternative of ignoring their rumors crossed her mind, Katie knew the ineffectuality of that choice as well. The Weasleys didn't really need her as a reason to raise hell; an insatiable sense of mischief was their primary motivator.

A sudden prickle in her spine forced her to roll slowly onto her side; Oliver's Potions book sat idly on the nightstand. Flipping to the last two pages where she had tucked Abby's letter, she picked up the envelope and fingered the soft paper thoughtfully. In the light, Katie could easily see the dark outline of the paper inside.

She wondered what kind of letter writer Abby was. Was she the kind to start with "Dear" and write eloquent, flowery notes? Or was she simply someone who wrote a name, a dash and a brief message? Or perhaps she had simply sealed a photo inside.

Katie wondered what she would enclose in an envelope to someone she fancied. She found her handwriting to be too messy to be of any use in writing letters of undying devotion. She also thought she lacked the writing skills to describe something as complicated as love. The unexpected creak of the door sent a panic through her, and she quickly cached the envelope under her pillow and shut her eyes.

* * *

The blast of Madam Hooch's whistle cut through the wind; Katie winced as her head already pounded. She gripped her broom unsteadily, feeling her balance falter, and hoped that the sensation of mild vertigo would fade. After a deep breath, she jetted after the Quaffle, but before she, Alicia or Angelina could even fly halfway down the field, the screech of the whistle pierced through the air, the scoreboard sounded, and Slytherin erupted in applause.

As the whistle faded, the wind carried a string of expletives from the Gryffindor players that continued from field to changing room. A dark mood followed the abrupt loss. Most sullen of all was Oliver, who was so taken with his sullenness that he did not seem to realize the discomfort it caused the rest of the team.

"So..." Fred quickly trailed off and looked to Angelina on his left for help. She averted her eyes immediately, and the silence persisted.

"Those bastards!" George declared, eliciting two odd chuckles from Fred and Alicia.

All of the Gryffindors, with the exception of Harry, remained stationed in the middle of the empty, soggy Quidditch field. It had been nearly an hour, long after the last spectators had gone, but the six players seemed content sitting motionless. Katie scanned the fading orange horizon lazily, enjoying the unique ritual the team indulged in after a loss, despite general disappointment.

"You know what we all need?" George said.

"I know that _you_ need to shut up," Alicia muttered.

"First of all, Spinnet, _you_ need pull that stick out of your arse," he retorted, "Secondly, I think we need to get out of this depressing school."

"Hear, hear," Katie called blandly.

"Anyone else think an impromptu trip to Hog's Head is in order?" he said.

"You can't wait until tomorrow?" Katie asked. "We'll be going to Hogsmeade tomorrow anyway."

"Ah, come on, Bell." Fred heartily slapped her back. "Life's more fun when you're under the constant danger of being expelled."

"I'll go," Katie said. "But you and George had better know which passages we're taking this time. Filch nearly caught us before."

"Of course. Everyone agreed then?" George asked, making a final appeal. Alicia, Angelina, and Oliver muttered various affirmatives. "Excellent. We'll meet by the Common Room entrance in fifteen minutes."

Within half an hour, the group was sneakily traversing through the castle and stealing into the pitch dark of the foggy, cold evening. In a line alternating male and female, they walked silently down the cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade towards the Hog's Head. There were just enough people in the village to leave the students unnoticed. George, who fronted the line, flashed a quick grin before leading his friends inside the seedy pub.

To Katie's pleasant surprise, the interior did not smell as wretched as she had expected, though it certainly was grimier than she could have imagined. The pub was stocked with a greater number of characters than usual, and as a consequence, was louder and warmer. She took a seat on the gnarled and seemingly soiled table for three with Angelina and Alicia, while George, Fred and Oliver took a similarly grubby table very close behind them, close enough that their chairs were back to back. They had been sure not to cause a stir, and took the first few minutes to adjust to the dim light and bizarre atmosphere.

After half an hour of chatter between the two tables, George took a second initiative.

"Thirsty, anyone?"

"Me," Oliver said, raising a hand. Alicia and Angelina offered their requests next before quickly excusing themselves to use the toilet, and Fred gave his request last.

"Nothing for you, Katie?" George verified.

"It's okay. I'll just have a little of theirs," she said indicating to where Alicia and Angelina had been. The twins and Oliver quickly dispersed, leaving Katie alone. She looked around the dim space, noted the random clusters of people in corners, the raucous noise from a battered sofa, but quickly returned her attention to the table when she felt a thud against the back of her chair and then a splash of cold liquid on her cheek.

"Oh... What the..." she muttered, wiping her face with her hand, looking around in bewilderment.

"Sorry," came a dull reply from behind. "Didn't see you there."

Craning her neck around, she met eyes with a dark haired boy whose large hands gripped the edge of her chair unsteadily. His black coat seemed to match the general murkiness of the room, and though his general appearance seemed disheveled, his bright eyes exuded a remarkable approachability.

"It's okay," she said shyly.

He placed his glass in front of her and grinned. "You don't come here often."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Cause if you did you'd know sittin' at a table's the worst thing you could do on a crowded night."

"Why?"

"Because this might happen," he said, pouring half of his glass neatly onto the floor only a few paces from her feet. "Except you'd be the one who stinks of ale and not this dingy floor."

Katie grinned crookedly, half out of amusement and half out of a genuine fear for her life; he was either insane or fantastically drunk.

"I suppose... Thanks for the warning."

"Would you like this?" he asked, tipping his glass towards her. "I think I want a fresh one."

Her eyes darted around quickly for one of her friends before returning to the friendly stranger in front of her. "O-okay. What is it?"

"Ah," he waved his hand dismissively. "Try it. I'm Max."

"Katie," she replied as she took a guarded taste. She spat her small mouthful almost immediately onto the floor, right into the newly existent puddle. "Blimey.... What is this? It's disgusting!"

Max smiled. "I guess so. Acquired taste. I forget most people aren't used to the taste of rotten veg and rum."

"Is that what this is?"

"Oh, I dunno. My mate bought and described it for me."

"And you offered it to me why?"

"Just wanted a reason to say 'hi' to you is all."

"You're very drunk."

"Yes," he replied. "I am. Are you?"

"No. I'm not."

"Well do you want to come back with me over there?" he asked pointing to an indistinguishable group farther in the back of the pub.

"No, thank you... My friends are coming back," she said pointing to who she knew to be one of the twins approaching her.

"A shame. I think I like you," Max said, eyeing her with another impish smile. Katie fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, wishing George and Oliver would get back faster.

"Who the hell are you?" George called antagonistically, his face already red from drink. George and Oliver stared at Katie's new acquaintance with great suspicion.

"No one, George," Katie interrupted. "In fact, he was just passing by."

Max gave Katie a final wink from behind George's shoulder as he slipped away.

"Who was that?" George yelled at Katie, apparently unable to control the volume of his voice. "Here's your drink.... Wait, where did you get that one?"

"What one?" she replied nervously. "This one? I dunno. Someone sloshed it on my table and left it there. See?"

She pointed to the puddle. George and Oliver put the two extra firewhiskys meant for Alicia and Angelina in front of Katie and stood on either side of her.

"Where are Angelina and Alicia?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know. They went to use the loo earlier and they haven't come back," Katie scanned the room again. "Is that them over there?"

"I'll take a look," George said, wiping his mouth and settling his glass on the table as well.

Katie noticed George's slight stagger and turned to Oliver. "Is he drunk already?"

"Who was that?"

"What?"

"George is fine. Who was that bloke talking to you?"

"What?"

"Bell. The one that went over there," Oliver said irritably, pointing towards the back. "Who was he?"

"I don't know. He was just drunk and stumbled into me and... Was chatty. That's all. What's it matter to you?"

"Course it matters to me. It'd matter to any of us if you got picked off by some crazy drunk. Did he give you that glass you're holding? You're not drinking that are you?"

"You're not my mum," Katie replied sourly. "Get out of my business."

"I'm not your mum, you're right, but I'm someone with enough sense to not accept and worse, drink something strangers offer to me. What if it's poisoned?"

She snorted. "Poisoned?"

"Yes, poisoned. What if it is?"

"Well, do you want me to find out?"

"Yeah. Drink it."

"Drink it?" she stammered. "You want me to?"

"You're the one who's so sure it's not poisoned. Go on."

"Well... Well, _you're_ the one who's so sure it is."

"Fine. I'll drink it."

"Hey, hey!" she cried as he snatched the glass from her hand and drank it. "Oliver!"

With a twisted expression of disgust on his face, Oliver slammed the empty glass down and faced Katie with a grimace.

"Egh. What is that?" Oliver slumped into the chair across from her and to her surprise, laughed. "That's absolutely one of the most disgusting glasses of tripe I've ever had. Vile."

Katie let out a singular horrified laugh and couldn't help but pat his shoulder consolingly. "Are you mad? What if that **had **been poisoned?"

"You dared me."

"I did no such thing. You're the one who felt compelled to drink it. Are you all right?"

"Sure, for now. It's just a drink," he said, having moved onto his own glass of firewhisky. "Though I'm sure I'll regret it in the morning."

"I can see that you're quite over the loss today. Or that you've lost your mind," Katie said. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. I just thought I'd' take George's advice and squeeze in some excitement while we're illegally traipsing about Hogsmeade. And I'm not over the loss; don't expect the next practice to be fun. Anyway, I do know how to do something fanatically other than Quidditch once in awhile."

"You're a fanatic drunk?"

"No. I am a fanatic drinker. George and Fred are fanatic drunks. In fact, Fred is gambling away money he does not have with some strange group by the bar. And George has probably gotten into some sort of fight trying to pry Angelina and Alicia away from who he thinks are seedy men."

"How do you know they aren't with seedy men?"

"Because they're coming back right now," Oliver said, cocking his head toward Angelina's tall figure.

"Hey! Where have you two been?" Katie cried.

"Sorry. We were hiding for awhile because we thought we'd seen Professor Trelawney. It wasn't her, don't worry. Just some woman in heavy jewelry and glasses."

"It doesn't look like you two have missed us though," Alicia commented. "You and Wood seem cozy in this corner."

"Alicia-" Oliver warned.

"We'll go look for George," Angelina interrupted, smirking.

Alicia nodded. "And Fred, too. Stay put."

Katie took a gulp of one of the firewhiskys to avoid any immediate awkwardness, wincing slightly as the beverage seared the inside of her throat.

"Apparently I'm not the only fanatic drunk," Oliver commented. "Nice, Bell."

She blushed, though she was unsure whether or not it was an adverse reaction to the whisky or not; she took a smaller sip anyway.

"Sorry if I mothered you just now," he continued. "I-"

"I know," Katie finally said. "You're just looking after your Chaser."

"I was going to say friend."

"Oh."

"You don't think we're friends?"

"No, no," she stammered. "I-I do. It's that I-"

"Forget?"

She nodded as she took another mouthful of alcohol, this time to cover a sudden shyness.

"Me too," he said with a smile.

"About the match today-"

He quickly clapped his hand over her mouth. "Stop. I told you that I can function without Quidditch every now and then. I mean, if you really want we could talk about the match today, but I don't think it'd be a conversation as much as it would be an argument."

"Who are you?" she asked, amazed that Oliver had actually refused to discuss his favorite sport. "Are you _sure_ that drink wasn't poisoned?"

He grinned. "Surprise."

"I guess so." She hesitated, fingering the edge of the table. "Um. While we're on the topic of friendship... Uh. I want to apologize again for the way I've been recently. I've been a brat, and I think my only explanation is that I'm frustrated."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes you're smothering with all of your speeches and yelling and... impossible strategies and everything. It's overwhelming."

"I know. But I like to win. Everyone wants to win but no one wants to bleed and blister for it. And that's just the way I am. I've always liked taking things too far and obsessing over things for too long."

"It's scary," Katie admitted, finishing off the last of her drink. "Effective. But scary."

"Good."

She smiled, feeling the most at ease with him than she had been in months. Oliver lifted his eyes from his lap to Katie. He ruffled his hair and bit his bottom lip absentmindedly.

"Hey, I've got something for you," Katie said suddenly, recalling the envelope she had tucked into her pant pocket before leaving the castle.

She pulled out the slightly bent envelope and pressed it into Oliver's open palm. He wrinkled his brow slightly before carefully opening it. Katie watched in fascination as Oliver's seemingly unruly hands delicately picked the flap open, and unfolded a piece of paper. His eyes strained to read the print in the pub's dim lighting, but once he finished, he reached back into the envelope and removed a photograph. With a chuckle, he flipped the photo to show Katie.

**:)**


	9. Closer

She squinted closely at the photo and saw Oliver tripping on a stair and tumbling down into a suit of armor.

"I don't think I understand. Is it some joke between you two?"

"I suppose," he said. "It says here 'Thanks for making me laugh.' I dunno how she got this photo though."

"Maybe she's been following you around school from a distance."

"I don't think so. She doesn't like people like me."

"Um... She doesn't like dark hair? Dark eyes? Are you too tall? Too weird?"

"No," he muttered emphatically, leaning closer to her. "She doesn't like blokes."

Katie felt her jaw slacken. "What? How do you know that?"

Oliver nodded. "Trust me. I speak from experience."

"So you were interested in her then?"

"Yes. Darkly, darkly in lust with her. And then I came a little early to help her with Potions and I saw her... occupied. In some Slythern girl's mouth."

"Thank you," Katie said in disgust, cringing. "That narrative was-"

"Necessary."

"It wasn't. But thanks. I learned s-so much about her in so few sentences."

Oliver grinned wryly and leaned back into his chair, adequately satisfied with Katie's reaction. "You never would have guessed, would you?"

"Not in a million, million years. Never."

"So what's your secret?"

"I don't really have any," she admitted. "I'm not very complicated, I'm afraid."

"One secret. One stupid, silly thing. I won't tell; who would I tell?"

"Besides Fred and George, who collectively have the biggest mouths on this side of the planet?"

"Yes. Besides them."

"Really, I-"

"No one," he answered. "I won't tell. I know when something is supposed to be confidential."

"I would tell you a secret if I had one. But I don't. I'm just... I'm exactly who you think I am."

"Hello, lovely girls!" Angelina interrupted.

With a large smile, she lied back on the table and blinked up at Oliver and Katie with bright eyes. Without a table, Oliver and Katie were forced to place the drinks in the space underneath their chairs. They exchanged bewildered looks before turning to the others for an explanation.

"What happened to her?" Katie asked George.

George smiled and shrugged. "Fred and I just found her with Alicia outside the pub laughing and drinking some horrible fruity-feminine things. They seem all right."

"Do you really think that?" Oliver asked dryly, flicking his head toward Angelina who had begun to lick the grimy window pane. Katie pried Angelina away from the window and gripped her by the wrist.

"Well, Alicia is oka..." George stopped short. "Or not... That can not be sanitary... I'll get her.

He returned several minutes later with Alicia in tow with a frown.

"She bit me," he said, holding up his hand and revealing a dark maroon spot in the middle of his hand. "I think it's about time we take these two back to school before they begin to draw more attention. Fred? Shall we?"

"Of course," Fred said eagerly, pulling a dazed but giddy Angelina to her feet.

"Fred. I know you're excited to get some time alone with Angelina but... Just remember she is drunk. And anything you do may result in some sort of legal recourse," Katie warned.

Fred scowled with uncharacteristic malice and replied hotly, "I'm not stupid, Katie. Or a swine, either."

"Sorry... Do you want me to take her?"

"No, actually... You and Wood seem to be enjoying each other's company, so... We'll just leave you two behind. See you later," he replied.

"Fred. I'm sorry; I was only joking... I-"

"Don't worry about him," Oliver interrupted, taking a casual sip of his drink. "He's just a knob when he's had too much to drink. He'll be fine by tomorrow. He just loses a sense of humor after one too many pints."

After watching the last of the four slip through the door, Katie turned back into her chair, her hands cupped around her frosted glass.

"I didn't know that about him."

"I was surprised the first time too," Oliver said. "Now back to what we were discussing earlier."

"I _told_ you, I am absolutely dull. I have no secrets. I-"

"Yes, you have!" he insisted. "Everybody does."

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Because I don't know much of anything about you. I realized that the other day in the Hospital Wing when I had nothing to say to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone else brought up an old joke, or some crazy adventure they've had with you and... I couldn't think of anything outside of practices. And I felt badly. I don't know much about you at all, really. Just that you're a Chaser, you've got brown hair, brown eyes... You're a bitch when you want to be... Your name."

Katie replied dryly, "It's customary to learn the less controversial things about a person before their secrets."

"Those are boring though. I mean, if you'd like, you can tell me those things too, but I think you'd be bored with that too. There's something fun about telling someone a secret. It's dangerous, don't you think?"

"You get very chatty when you drink," she said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk for so long about something outside of Quidditch."

"Could you stop trying to change the subject?"

She rolled her eyes and flipped her empty glass onto its opposite end. "Oh, all right! You first."

"Okay. I cheated on Arithmancy tests all through last year."

Katie laughed. "No, you do not! How?"

He shrugged. "I just asked older students for the test questions. Professor Vector never changes her tests, in case you were curious."

"Well, well... You lazy brat," she teased. "Why did you ever take that class in the first place if you didn't want to do the work?"

"Eh, my mum pressed me to. She really thought I'd do well. Even though I've inherited her complete inadequacy with numbers."

"Aww, you love your mummy!"

He wrinkled his brow. "Why should I be ashamed of that?"

Katie's expression suddenly turned sober and she shrugged. "I dunno. I think I'm just adjusting to the fact that you have feelings. It's a strange thing for me, getting to know you as a person."

"As opposed to?"

"A dimwit."

"You're a very difficult girl to talk to."

"Why? Because I have yet to melt into your hands?"

"No. Because you have a smart comment for any and every thing anyone could say to you."

"That's true. Sorry. It's sort of a habit."

"Clearly. Now go on with that secret of yours."

"I used to have a crush on George when I was a first and second year. Besides the actual sport, he was the other reason I tried out for the team."

Oliver snickered, slapping his hand on the table. Katie bit her lower lip sheepishly, but willed herself not to blush; her infatuation with George Weasley had long since passed, after all. Oliver's teeth flashed white in the dim light as he laughed, and Katie caught herself enjoying the way the dim light cast his face in such a flattering way.

"See? You do have something exciting about you," he said, his cheeks pink from laughter.

"Glad you think so."

Oliver took a glance around the pub. "I think we should get going."

"Why? You work best undercover?"

He grinned. "No. I'm just getting tired of the smell of vomit and fire whisky. And cheap cologne. Aren't you?"

"Yeah. I am. I don't like the smell of damp, either."

"Smell of damp?" he asked as he and Katie left their table and began to work through the crowd toward the door.

"You know... That sort of unrecognizable smell of something that's a bit moldy, a bit... rotten. It's really organic, earthy. It's not too unpleasant unless the smell mixes with a hundred people's body odors and alcohol."

The sound of silence outside of the pub in the street shocked them still for a moment. Both gladly breathed in the fresh air, and even enjoyed the droplets of icy rain that fell from the pitch dark sky. Once they had adjusted to the night's quiet and clear air, they looked at one another.

"I think I know exactly the smell you mean," Oliver said, his breath forming slight puffs in the night. "This smell."

He pushed his arm in front of her nose, and taken aback, Katie took one step back.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just smell."

"Your arm?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Do it. You'll see what I mean."

"I already know what you mean. _You're_ the one who wanted clarification, Wood."

"I guess you're right."

He retracted his arm away from her face and instead extended his hand. She stared at his hand with equal mystification.

"What?" she asked.

"You do want to get back to school in one piece, don't you?"

"Why do I have to hold your hand to do that?"

"You don't. But the polite thing would be to accept."

"No. I don't know the kinds of surfaces you've been touching all night."

"You have no manners, Bell."

"Yes, I have!"

"No. You don't. At all."

She frowned. "Fine. Then give me your hand."

"No. You refused."

"Give me your hand!"

"No," he said, laughing at her. "Sometimes there are no second chances."

Before Katie could reply, Oliver began to sprint quickly down the road towards Hogwarts. Katie gasped and chased after him. Wood quickly disappeared from sight, and Katie quickly gave up her chase.

"Drunk bugger sure can run..." she muttered as she scanned the darkness around her. "Bastard."

Taking a slight pause, Katie untied her ponytail and let her hair fall to her shoulders. As she passed the last store on the street and turned the corner, having given up entirely on finding or catching up to Oliver, she walked right into him.

"I bet you wish you had taken my hand now," he said, smiling.

"You're a bastard," she growled. "What possessed you to run away from me like that? What if someone had attacked me? Wouldn't you feel guilty?"

"Ah. I think the fact you completely rejected my attempt at chivalry would be enough to quell my conscience."

"Some conscience, you have..."

"At least I waited for you."

"Hmph..." she huffed.

"Here," he said, extending his hand. "Unless you actually want to walk the rest of the way alone."

"You're not going to tell anybody, are you?"

"Tell them what?"

"That you snogged me or something."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because the truth has a way of twisting with you, Fred, and George."

"You think too lowly of us. To echo what Fred said earlier, I've got decency, too."

With a nod, she slipped her fingers in-between his and closed them. his hands were dry, warm, and smooth, not too hard, but certainly not soft either. They were exactly as Katie had expected: they were a Quidditch player's hands.

They walked down the street leisurely, perhaps tired from their brief sprints, but neither seemed as harried to reach school. Katie glanced at Oliver's face to see his expression every now and again, but had limited success given the lack of light.

"I think we're too drunk to realize how odd this is," Katie murmured. "This is... surreal."

"Why?"

"Because this isn't an argument or a Quidditch match. And that's all we know of each other."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's different."

Katie nodded, and the two completed the rest of their midnight journey from the Hog's Head to Hogwarts in a comfortable silence, with only the occasional rattle of the trees or street signs interrupting. Once inside of the school grounds, they made extra sure to be silent, and after a near run in with Mrs. Norris, reached their House safely. The Fat Lady eyed them suspiciously even after Oliver had spoken the password; Katie blushed under her stare as they slipped in.

They finally let go of the other's hand when they crossed into the empty Common Room.

"Your hair's wet," Oliver commented as he stared at her in the light of the fireplace.

"Yours too."

"It's long," he continued.

She shrugged as she leaned against the plush back of an armchair.

"Can I touch it?" he asked.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked with an incredulous smile, her eyes opening wide with surprise.

"I'm drunk," he said flatly. "I get touchy when I'm drunk."

She let out a singular laugh. "Apparently."

"Can I?" he persisted.

"If you want."

Oliver stepped around the small table between them and stopped short in front of her, his hand extended. Katie flinched slightly once his fingers ran through her hair and brushed against her jaw and then her neck. After he had run his fingers through one last time, he pulled his hand back to his side and stared at her.

"Are you feeling all right?" Katie asked shakily. "You look... I don't know... Very unlike yourself.."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you like me?"

"W-what?"

"Fred and George have told me some things. And I've heard some other things around school. And... I think you might."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you bothering to ask me?"

"Because I want to be sure."

"I'm drunk," she said.

"So?"

"I get touchy when I'm drunk."

"You're just repeating what I've told you."

"I think Fred and George just wanted to get back at me for... burning their robes and embarrassing them. And yes, I'm repeating what you've said... But I don't like you."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes...?"

"And now?"

He took a step closer and touched her wrist. Katie hiccupped loudly and stared at Oliver in anticipation.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Kissing you," he answered.

**:D And the plot thickens... :P  
**


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